Vacation 2010 - Day 2

On day 2 of our vacation we wanted to drive all the way up to the
Columbia River Gorge. We had planned to leave Mt. Shasta at 9 am, but we were running about 1/2 hour behind. Around 9.30 we started to head the I-5 north. The scenery of NorCal is very beautiful and we took tons of pix and video. The Volcanic heritage of norhtern California was especially impressive. On the way to the California - Oregon border we passed through a number of very small towns.
Around 11 we made it to the CA - Oregon state line. We stopped right at the Oregon State Sign and took a couple of pix. We headed further north on the I-5 and took a stop at Country Junction to let Daisy out. Of course she loved it... but all the new and different smells were driving her crazy. She just couldn't help herself and the scents were getting the better of her... at least partially. We got back on the Interstate and headed up north. Driving through Oregon is absolutely beautiful. Trees as far as the eye can see. Oregon is really green and coming from SoCal that's quite a nice change. Some parts of Oregon reminded me about parts of my own home country. At Sutherlin we got off the freeway to have lunch at Burger King.
After lunch I took over as driver, since Kenny had already been driving for a little ove 200 miles. We got back onto the I-5 and headed north. We passed through Eugene and Salem where it got more and more gray. From the look alone I know I was heading straight into the rain... and surely enough only a short time later it started raining. It was only light rain. From that point on we were hitting pockets of light and heavier rain from in periodical intervals. I didn't mind that, since driving in the rain doesn't really bother me at all.
About 25 miles south of Portland we stopped at the Baldock Rest Area, to give Daisy a chance to get out of the car... and of course she absolutely loved it. I have to say one thing about Rest Stops in Oregon they are with wooded and really beautiful. We also found out that it is against the law in Oregon to fill up your own car. Being from SoCal that hit me as particularly odd.
We headed the I-5 further north into Portland. Not exactly sure what it is but all the freeway intersections in Downtown Portland reminded me of more of a metropolitan jungle. While driving in LA I never had that particular feeling. We finally had it made to the I-5 / I-84 intersection, got onto the I-84 and started with the last part of today's travel. One last note on Downtown Portland: Neither Kenny nor I were particularly impressed.
So we headed on the I-84 east and about 1 hour later we reached the final destination in Hood River. We checked into the Sunset Motel, unpacked the truck and were both glad that we could finally relax. Later in the evening Daisy finally was hungry enough to eat her regular food... as for the past 1 1/2 days she hasn't been eating. But that is pretty much normal when she's taken out of her familiar surroundings.
Kenny and I will be in Hood River for the next 2 days.